Thursday, September 06, 2007

Ah, The Novelty of It All

During third period this morning I was going over the study guide for our upcoming test when a hand goes up. It's Waif Boy, one of the tinier kids on my team. (We seem to have cornered the market on twelve-year-olds that look like they are eight.)

"Mrs Bluebird," he asks after I call on him, "Is it raining?"

I listen for a moment and realize that yes, Waif Boy is right. "It sure sounds like it," I say and continue on with the study guide review.

We do a few more questions and I realize that the kids aren't really paying attention. They're too busy listening to the rain. It's a sound we haven't heard for a good long while, as evidenced by the extreme drought we've had since winter. In fact, we're well below half the normal rainfall for the year. Since my room is windowless, the kids couldn't see the rain, but they were turning their heads towards the back door where the sound was coming from.

"Okay," I say. "Let's stop for a minute. We can't go outside right now, but I'm going to open the back door so we can see the rain for a bit." I walk over and push the door open to a heavy gray sky, a steady rain, and water rushing off the roof of The School.

The kids all lean towards the door and let out a collective, "Ooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh."

I couldn't agree more.

2 comments:

Mrs. T said...

I took a class at church once, taught by this amazing nun, Sister Sharla. She grew up on a farm in Wisconsin, and thus was always very weather oriented. She told a story about how one summer there was a terrible drought. Week after week, the parishioners at the small, rural Catholic church would pray for rain. No rain came. The situation became so dire that they called a special prayer service in the middle of the week. Families came in droves to pack the church, where they again prayed for rain. They were there about a half an hour and then the heavens opened up and blessed them with the rain that they so desperately needed. Sister Sharla paused when she got to the next part: one little girl brought an umbrella. One girl in the whole place had faith enough that she believed that together, they could get God to make it rain.
For the rain today, Thank God! I'm sure your crispy, crunchy lawn was lovin it, too!

HappyChyck said...

I love rain breaks! I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who does it!